Thread on Arrival by Lea Wait

First Line: "How many from Haven Harbor died?"

Ike Hamilton has fallen on hard times. He lives in a garage and subsists on disability checks and deposit bottles. Most of the residents of Haven Harbor know Ike and do what they can to help him out. When Ike is found dead, suspicion immediately falls on the teenage boy who's been living with him the past few weeks.

Angie Curtis is convinced that young Leo is innocent, and in trying to help the boy, she soon learns that, although Ike may have been simple-minded, he knew secrets that may well have gotten him murdered. Now all Angie has to do is trace Ike's bottle-collecting route. He witnessed something that cost him his life, and Angie is determined to uncover the killer.

Although I have to admit that my enthusiasm for cozy mysteries is waning, Lea Wait's Mainely Needlepoint series is still a favorite. Chalk it up to a cast of characters that's always interesting, mysteries that are always intriguing, evocative chapter headings that remind me of the samplers I stitched in my childhood, and a setting that has Maine in the top three on my list of states that I want to visit.

In Thread on Arrival, readers learn about Haven Harbor's annual Blessing of the Fleet, when those who have died at sea are remembered and the boats of the locals are blessed. It's a moving ceremony that is undoubtedly performed in coastal towns around the world where fishermen brave the elements to make a living.

We also get to know Dave Percy, one of the Mainely Needlepointers, better because he is the one who is adamant about helping prove homeless teen Leo's innocence, although others in the group are quick to offer their help. In fact, helping others is one of the themes in Thread on Arrival (and in the series as well).

Needlepoint, helping others, Maine traditions, interesting characters, and a mystery that has a long suspect list-- just five of the reasons why I continue to enjoy this series. If you haven't already, I urge you to give it a try.

Thread on Arrival by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496716743

Kensington Books © 2019

eBook, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #8 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: B+

Source: NetGalley


 

April 2019 New Mystery Releases!

Spring has been busting out all over here in the Phoenix metro area. With all the Tombstone roses and sweet acacia winding up for super blooms, it smells heavenly here at Casa Kittling, and I'm looking forward to taking photos of those flowers in all their glory.

I'm also looking forward to the water in my pool warming up so I can head back out to my favorite reading spot. And that means I've been trying to ensure that my coffers are filled with good books to read.

The following are my picks of the best in new crime fiction being released throughout the month of April. I've grouped them by their release date, and the book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Let's see if I've managed to include any titles that tickle your fancy, too...

=== April 2 ===

Title: Stick Together

Author: Sophie Hénaff

Series: #2 in the Awkward Squad police procedural series set in Paris, France.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "After their successful solving of three cold cases and exposing corruption at the very highest levels of the Paris police force, Officer Anne Capestan's team of oddballs and no-hopers should be in a celebratory mood. However, now despised by their colleagues at 36, Quai des Orfevres and worried for their future, morale has never been lower among the members of the Awkward Squad.

Capestan is doing her best to motivate the team, but even she cannot maintain a cheerful facade when she has been assigned to investigate the murder of Officer Serge Rufus, the father of her ex-husband. Worse, it soon appears that his murder is linked to two other victims, both of whom were warned by the killer before they struck.

Can Capestan marshal the forces to solve another hopeless mystery, or will her team's previous success be proven just a fluke?"

Title: The Loch Ness Papers
Author: Paige Shelton
Series: #4 in the Scottish Bookshop cozy series set in Scotland.
320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Delaney Nichols is delighted with her life in Edinburgh, working at The Cracked Spine―a shop that specializes in hard-to-find books and artifacts. With a job she loves, and her fast approaching marriage to devastatingly handsome Scottish pub-owner Tom Shannon, Delaney's life could be straight out of a fairy tale―at least it would be if the pastor meant to perform the wedding ceremony hadn't recently passed away. Outside the church where Delaney is searching for another reverend, she stumbles across Norval Fraser: an elderly man obsessed with the Loch Ness monster. Always attracted to the interesting and unusual, Delaney befriends Norval. But when his nephew is found dead, the police decide Norval's obsession has moved from monsters to murder.

With a wedding to plan, her family arriving soon from Kansas, and the arrival of an over-the-top Texan with a wildly valuable book, Delaney's plate is full to bursting, but she can't abandon her new friend. Determined to help Norval, she sets out to learn the truth. The Loch Ness buries its secrets deeply, but Delaney is determined to dig them up―whether Nessie likes it or not."

Title: The Mykonos Mob
Author: Jeffrey Siger
Series: #10 in the Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis police procedural series set in Greece.
336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "The case begins for Athens' Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis with a literal bang when a corrupt former police colonel who runs a protection racket on Mykonos is gunned down. Suddenly, Athens' Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis is face-to-face with Greece's top crime bosses on an island whose natural beauty and reputation as an international playground belies the corruption lurking just beneath the surface.

While Andreas and his Special Crimes unit wrestle for answers, Andreas's wife, Lila, meets an American expat named Toni, a finder of stolen goods and a piano player in a gender-bending bar who has a zest for life and no apparent regard for rules. As Lila and Toni bond over a common desire to mentor young island girls trapped in an exploitative and patriarchal culture, they soon find that their efforts to improve the lives of the Greek girls they've come to care about intersect with Andreas' investigation in ways that prove to be dangerous for all involved...

International bestselling author Jeffrey Siger delivers another heart-stopping story of corruption and intrigue in The Mykonos Mob, the latest entry in the renowned Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis mystery series."

Title: Bluff

Author: Jane Stanton Hitchcock

Standalone social noir set in New York City.

264 pages

Synopsis: "One-time socialite Maud Warner polishes up the rags of her once glittering existence and bluffs her way into a signature New York restaurant on a sunny October day. When she walks out again, a man will have been shot.

Maud has grown accustomed to being underestimated and invisible, and she uses her ability to fly under the radar as she pursues celebrity accountant Burt Sklar, the man she believes stole her mother's fortune and left her family in ruins. Her fervent passion for poker has taught Maud that she can turn weakness into strength to take advantage of people who think they are taking advantage of her, and now she has dealt the first card in her high-stakes plan for revenge.

One unexpected twist after another follows as Maud plays the most important poker hand of her life. The stakes? To take down her enemies and get justice for their victims. Her success depends on her continuing ability to bluff―and on who will fold.

Can she win?"

Title: Loch of the Dead

Author: Oscar de Muriel

Series: #4 in the Frey and McGray historical mystery series set in 1880s Scotland.

448 pages

Synopsis: "A mysterious woman pleads for the help of Inspectors Are and "Nine-Nails" McGray. Her son, illegitimate scion of the Koloman family, has received an anonymous death threat―right after learning he is to inherit the best part of a vast wine-producing estate.

In exchange for their protection, she offers McGray the ultimate cure for his sister, who has been locked in an insane asylum after brutally murdering their parents: the miraculous waters that spring from a small island in the remote Loch Maree.

The island has been a sacred burial ground since the time of the druids, but the legends around it will turn out to be much darker than McGray could have expected. Murder and increasingly bizarre happenings will intermingle throughout this trip to the Highlands before Frey and McGray learn a terrible truth."

Title: Murder at the Marina

Author: Janet Finsilver

Series: #5 in the Kelly Jackson cozy series set in California.

180 pages

Synopsis: "Kelly Jackson, manager of the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast, is fond of the Doblinsky brothers, Ivan and Rudy, members of the Silver Sentinels, a crew of crime-solving senior citizens in their Northern California seaside hamlet. After she discovers a jewel-encrusted dagger-with what appears to be dried blood on the blade-on their fishing boat, they share their family history with Kelly, and she learns that the knife may be part of a set from their long-ago childhood in Russia. Its sudden reappearance is eerie, but the mystery grows much more serious when a body is found on the boat. The victim was staying at Kelly's inn, in town for a Russian Heritage Festival, and some of the organizers were clearly harboring some bitterness. But the story behind this murder seems as layered as a nesting doll and Kelly's feeling completely at sea . . . "

=== April 8 ===

Title: Scot & Soda
Author: Catriona McPherson
Series: #2 in the Last Ditch humorous mystery series set in California.
312 pages

Synopsis: "Now settled in her little houseboat, moored in the slough at the back of the Last Ditch Motel, Lexy Campbell wants nothing more than to build her counseling business, avoid her mother's phone calls and―who knows?―meet a nice guy. But when she throws a Halloween party for her motley crew of motel pals, the only single man is too old for her, too wrapped up in the case of beer chilling in the slough, and―oh, yes―too dead.

The sensible choice is to leave it up to the cops to identify the body and catch the killer. So faster than you can say "Tam O'Shanter," Lexy and her friends jump into the case themselves, delving deep into their town's past for the roots of a mystifying crime."

=== April 16 ===

Title: Flowers Over the Inferno

Author: Ilaria Tuti

Series: #1 in the Teresa Battaglia police procedural series set in northern Italy.

360 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "In a quiet village surrounded by ancient woods and the imposing Italian Alps, a man is found naked with his eyes gouged out. It is the first in a string of gruesome murders.

Superintendent Teresa Battaglia, a detective with a background in criminal profiling, is called to investigate. Battaglia is in her mid-sixties, her rank and expertise hard-won from decades of battling for respect in a male-dominated Italian police force. While she’s not sure she trusts the young city inspector assigned to assist her, she sees right away that this is no ordinary case: buried deep in these mountains is a dark history that may endanger a group of eight-year-old children toward whom the killer seems to gravitate.

As Teresa inches closer to the truth, she must also confront the possibility that her body and mind, worn down by age and illness, may fail her before the chase is over."

=== April 18 ===

Title: The Burning Issue of the Day

Author: T.E. Kinsey

Series: #5 in the Lady Hardcastle historical series set in England.

312 pages

Synopsis: "January 1910. A journalist has been killed in a suspicious blaze. Everything points to a group of suffragettes, but the apparent culprit insists she is innocent.

When Lady Hardcastle receives a letter from a suffragette requesting her urgent help, the retired spy turned sleuth knows only she stands between an accused young woman and the gallows. Evidence at the scene makes Lizzie Worrel’s innocence difficult to believe, and with the police treating it as an open-and-shut case of arson, Lady Hardcastle faces a barrage of resistance as she tries to dig out the truth.

With her trusted maid and confidante, the formidable Flo, Lady Hardcastle sets off in pursuit of the truth as time runs out for the accused suffragette. Was she set up? And if so, is the real culprit a traitor to the cause—or part of a darker conspiracy?"

=== April 23 ===

Title: Throw Me to the Wolves

Author: Patrick McGuinness

Standalone thriller set in England.

336 pages

Synopsis: "In the aftermath of Brexit, the body of a young woman is found by the river Thames, and a neighbor, a retired teacher from Chapleton College, is arrested. An eccentric loner―intellectual, shy, a fastidious dresser with expensive tastes―he is the perfect candidate for a media monstering.

In custody, he is interviewed by two detectives: the circumspect Ander, and his workaday foil, Gary. Ander is particularly watchful now because the man across the table is someone he knows―someone he hasn’t seen in nearly thirty years. Determined to salvage the truth as ex-pupils and colleagues line up against the accused, he must face a story from decades back, from his own time as a Chapleton student, at the peak of anti-Irish sentiment.

With the momentum of classic crime fiction, Throw Me to the Wolves follows two mysteries―one unfolding in the media-saturated present, and the other bubbling up from the abusive past of the 1980s English school system. Beautifully written and psychologically acute, it is a novel about memory and childhood, prescient and piercingly funny, as wise as it is tragic."

=== April 30 ===

Title: Thread on Arrival

Author: Lea Wait

Series: #9 in the Mainely Needlepoint cozy series set in coastal Maine.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Ike Hamilton is a part of the Haven Harbor community just like anyone else, though he’s fallen on hard times and has to make do on disability checks and deposit bottles. Most of the locals do what they can to help him out, and needlepoint partners Angie and Sarah are happy to see him at the annual Blessing of the Fleet, honoring all those lost at sea over the centuries.

But when harmless Ike is stabbed, suspicion quickly falls on a troubled teenage boy who’s new in town. Angie’s convinced that young Leo is innocent—but if he didn’t do it, who did? Turns out Ike may have appeared simple-minded, but he knew a few secrets that someone might have murdered him to keep quiet. Angie sets out to trace Ike’s bottle-collecting route to find out what he witnessed—and for this killer, there may be no redemption . . ."

Title: Knit One, Die Two

Author: Peggy Ehrhart

Series: #2 in the Knit & Nibble cozy series set in New Jersey.

288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Knit and Nibble’s numbers are growing! In addition to a litter of adorable kittens, the knitting club just welcomed their newest member, Caralee Lorimer, who’s learning to knit for her upcoming role in A Tale of Two Cities. According to the amateur actress, the behind-the-scenes drama at the theater is getting downright catty, and Caralee wants a reckoning for Arborville’s pretentious suburbanites. Her claws are out, and just like her character in the play, Caralee is ready to name names. But before she can finish her snitchy stitches, Caralee is killed in a suspicious theater accident. Someone thinks they’ve staged a perfect murder, but Pamela and her Knit and Nibblers are ready to pounce on the real killer . . . before it’s curtains for anyone else!"

Well, how did I do? Did any of these books make it onto your own wishlists? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!

Thread Herrings by Lea Wait

First Line: "This is an adventure?" I grumbled, still half asleep, as I maneuvered my sweatered-parkaed-and-booted self into the passenger seat of the faded red van Sarah Byrne used for her antiques business.

Angie Curtis didn't expect to enjoy her first auction so much; she even bid on an old embroidered coat of arms and won. At first glance, there's nothing special about the piece of embroidery. In fact, it's in bad shape. But when Angie takes it out of the frame, she finds a document dated 1757-- a claim for a child left at a foundling hospital.

Angie's imagination is completely fired up, and she has to know more. Her friend, news reporter Clem Walker, airs a local interest spot on TV in an attempt to get more information. What they get are death threats, and Clem is shot to death in a parking lot the next day. Everything points to that tattered coat of arms being the catalyst, so Angie's own life is in danger. Now all she has to figure out is how to solve a mystery when she's hiding from a killer.

I've enjoyed Lea Wait's Mainely Needlepoint cozy series from the beginning. I've painlessly learned a lot about Maine through these books-- from its fascinating history to its landscape and weather to the customs of present-day Mainers. And I am happy to announce, Thread Herrings is the best of the series so far.

I loved the reminder of how much fun attending auctions can be, and I can imagine many other readers being tempted to attend their first one from Wait's description of Angie's experience at the beginning of the book. But the one thing that takes center stage in Thread Herrings is the mystery. Angie's friend is shot to death on her way to meet Angie at a local restaurant. From strangers asking locals where she lives to death threats by email and other means, it's clear to see that Angie's life is well and truly in danger and Wait skillfully ratchets up the suspense (and the need to read faster to make sure Angie doesn't come to harm).

And guess what? Wait doesn't create this palpable tension by having Angie do something stupid! I can't tell you how refreshing that is. Angie gets a bad case of cabin fever, but when the local and state police tell her to stay put and stay inside, she does it-- and the book is still scary and suspenseful. (There are authors who need to make note of this because I'm not the only reader who can't stand characters who are TSTL-- Too Stupid To Live.)

The reveal at the end of Thread Herrings is a satisfying one, and now I have to settle down and wait for the next installment. It can't come fast enough for me.

Thread Herrings by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496716729

Kensington Books © 2018

eBook, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #7 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

October 2018 New Mystery Releases!

There's nothing like spending summer afternoons in the pool to observe the change of seasons. I'm an old hand at being able to look out over the patio and tell the time by where the shadows are falling. You could call it my own variation of the sundial. In summer, the sun starts its path down the sky to its bed just beyond the roof peak. When the season is winding down, it starts its graceful glide just behind the oleanders across from where I sit... many yards to the left of the roof.

This means that my unheated pool starts cooling off quickly, and last week's day of overcast and the long afternoon of gentle rain put paid to my reading season out in the pool. But-- I still managed to find an overabundance of wonderful new crime fiction that's going to be released during the month of October! I've grouped the titles according to their release dates, and I hope that I've chosen some books that make you do a happy dance and add them to your personal wishlists. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Let's take a look, shall we?

=== October 2 ===

Title: Death of a Rainmaker

Author: Laurie Loewenstein

Series: #1 Dust Bowl historical mystery set in 1930s Oklahoma.

320 pages

Synopsis: "When a rainmaker is bludgeoned to death in the pitch-blackness of a colossal dust storm, small-town sheriff Temple Jennings shoulders yet another burden in the hard times of the 1930s Dust Bowl. The killing only magnifies Temple's ongoing troubles: a formidable opponent in the upcoming election, the repugnant burden of enforcing farm foreclosures, and his wife's lingering grief over the loss of their eight-year-old son.

As the sheriff and his young deputy investigate the murder, their suspicions focus on a teenager, Carmine, serving with the Civilian Conservation Corps. The deputy, himself a former CCCer, struggles with remaining loyal to the corps while pursuing his own aspirations as a lawman.

When the investigation closes in on Carmine, Temple's wife, Etha, quickly becomes convinced of his innocence and sets out to prove it. But Etha's own probe soon reveals a darker web of secrets, which imperil Temple's chances of reelection and cause the husband and wife to confront their long-standing differences about the nature of grief." 

=== October 8 ===

Title: The Question of the Dead Mistress

Author: E.J. Copperman/Jeff Cohen

Series: #5 in the Asperger's cozy series set in New Jersey.

288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "'Is my husband having an affair with a dead woman?'
 
For Samuel Hoenig, the proprietor of a unique agency called Questions Answered, the answer to this most recent question is simple. Since there's absolutely no evidence that apparitions exist, it would be impossible for Ginny Fontaine's husband to be having an affair with one.

But Samuel's associate, Janet Washburn, isn't so easily convinced.

Wrestling with his complicated feelings for Ms. Washburn, Samuel proposes that she take the lead on the question. As soon as her research begins, the husband in question ends up dead, leaving Janet and Samuel wondering if they stand a ghost of a chance at unraveling this twisted tale of danger and deceit."

Title: Hunting the Saturday Night Strangler

Author: C.M. Wendelboe

Series: #2 in the Bitter Wind P.I. series set in Wyoming.

288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Two innocent victims, strangled to death on consecutive Saturday nights. Even as they see the pattern emerging, retired detective Arn Anderson and TV reporter Ana Maria Villarreal can't seem to convince the Cheyenne police that the killer may strike again.

Hunting a remorseless murderer leads Arn and Ana Maria down a rabbit hole of ranchers and rustlers. But the closer they come to catching the killer, the more they're met with suspicion. And when their investigation collides with a desperate act of violence, they wonder whether they're unwinding the killer's twisted thread of clues or tightening their own noose."

=== October 9 ===

Title: The Clockmaker's Daughter

Author: Kate Morton

Standalone historical mystery set in England.

496 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "My real name, no one remembers.
The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper Thames. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe's life is in ruins.

Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist's sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker's Daughter is a story of murder, mystery, and thievery, of art, love, and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker's daughter."

Title: Penned

Author: Eileen Brady

Series: #4 in the Kate Turner DVM cozy series set in upstate New York.

243 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Dr. Kate Turner, DVM, is seven months into her one-year contract to cover for a Hudson Valley vet taking a year-long world cruise. She's getting used to the hospital and house-call workload but not to the sometimes dangerous, if not deadly, critters - animal and human - she meets.

Eighty-something-year-old Gloria LaGuardia has been installed at an assisted living center by her niece. They bump into Kate at the Oak Falls annual Halloween street bash. And while Gloria's conversation indicates some mental confusion - she asks a couple dressed as rabbits if they are real or not - she's still sharp. And she says, "Someone evil is here. I saw him."

Saw who? Will this chance meeting draw Kate into the path of Carl Wolf, a notorious fugitive twenty-one years on the FBI's Most Wanted List? Is Wolf hiding in plain sight in or around Oak Falls?

When Gloria, once an artist endowed with a sharp eye, is murdered, Kate doesn't know what to think. But author Tucker Weinstein approaches her at Gloria's funeral and indicates he believes the old woman. Further, he's devoting a chapter in his book to Carl Wolf.

The FBI doesn't appear interested. Gloria's family just wants to move on. But publicity-hungry Tucker mentions Kate in a newspaper interview that goes viral. She's overloaded with new clients like Billy, a Nubian stud goat living penned up with alpaca, llamas, and more goats on a local farm producing milk, wool, and cheese, and a grumpy Chihuahua dressed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Yet she senses someone is now following her. An undercover FBI agent? Carl Wolf on the prowl?

Determined not to be a victim, Kate digs deep into the arson/murder Wolf committed long ago. Are the clues to unmasking him hidden in the past, or closer than she thinks?"

Title: Wrecked

Author: Joe Ide

Series: #3 IQ P.I. mystery set in Los Angeles

352 pages

Synopsis: "Isaiah Quintabe--IQ for short--has never been more successful, or felt more alone. A series of high-profile wins in his hometown of East Long Beach has made him so notorious that he can hardly go to the corner store without being recognized. Dodson, once his sidekick, is now his full-fledged partner, hell-bent on giving IQ's PI business some real legitimacy: a Facebook page, and IQ's promise to stop accepting Christmas sweaters and carpet cleanings in exchange for PI services.

So when a young painter approaches IQ for help tracking down her missing mother, it's not just the case Isaiah's looking for, but the human connection. And when his new confidant turns out to be connected to a dangerous paramilitary operation, IQ falls victim to a threat even a genius can't see coming.

Waiting for Isaiah around every corner is Seb, the Oxford-educated African gangster who was responsible for the death of his brother, Marcus. Only, this time, Isaiah's not alone. Joined by a new love interest and his familiar band of accomplices, IQ is back--and the adventures are better than ever."

=== October 16 ===

Title: The Darkness

Author: Ragnar Jónasson

Series: #1 in the Hulda Hermannsdóttir police procedural series set in Iceland.

336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "The body of a young Russian woman washes up on an Icelandic shore. After a cursory investigation, the death is declared a suicide and the case is quietly closed.

Over a year later Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavík police is forced into early retirement at 64. She dreads the loneliness and the memories of her dark past that threaten to come back to haunt her. But before she leaves she is given two weeks to solve a single cold case of her choice. She knows which one: the Russian woman whose hope for asylum ended on the dark, cold shore of an unfamiliar country. Soon Hulda discovers that another young woman vanished at the same time and that no one is telling her the whole story. Even her colleagues in the police seem determined to put the brakes on her investigation. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.

Hulda will find the killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger."

Title: The Craftsman
Author: Sharon Bolton
Standalone police procedural set in England.
432 pages

Synopsis: "Florence Lovelady's career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Grassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago in a small village in Lancashire. Like something out of a nightmare, the victims were buried alive. Florence was able to solve the mystery and get a confession out of Larry before more children were murdered., and he spent the rest of his life in prison.

But now, decades later, he's dead, and events from the past start to repeat themselves. Is someone copying the original murders? Or did she get it wrong all those years ago? When her own son goes missing under similar circumstances, the case not only gets reopened... it gets personal.

In master of suspense Sharon Bolton's latest thriller, readers will find a page-turner to confirm their deepest fears and the only protagonist who can face them."

=== October 22 ===

Title: A Picture of Murder

Author: T.E. Kinsey

Series: #4 in the Lady Hardcastle historical series set in England.

320 pages

Synopsis: "Late October 1909, and the season of ghouls and things that go bump in the night has descended on the village of Littleton Cotterell.

Lady Hardcastle and her trusted lady’s maid, Florence, find themselves hosting a colourful cast of actors whose spooky moving picture, The Witch’s Downfall, is being shown to mark Halloween. But things take a macabre turn when the first night’s screening ends with a mysterious murder, and the second night with another…One by one the actors turn up dead in ways that eerily echo their film.

With the police left scratching their heads, Lady Hardcastle calls upon her amateur sleuthing skills to launch an investigation, with Flo’s able assistance. Surrounded by suspects both human and supernatural, Lady Hardcastle must use a little trickery of her own to unmask the murderer."

=== October 23 ===

Title: Go to My Grave

Author: Catriona McPherson

Standalone Gothic thriller set in Scotland.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Donna Weaver has put everything she has into restoring The Breakers, an old bed and breakfast on a remote stretch of beach in Galloway. Now it sits waiting—freshly painted, richly furnished, filled with flowers—for the first guests to arrive.

But Donna's guests, a contentious group of estranged cousins, soon realize that they’ve been here before, years ago. Decades have passed, but that night still haunts them: a sixteenth birthday party that started with peach schnapps and ended with a girl walking into the sea.

Each of them had made a vow of silence: 'lock it in a box, stitch my lips, and go to my grave.'

But now someone has broken the pact. Amid the home-baked scones and lavish rooms, someone is playing games, locking boxes, stitching lips. And before the weekend is over, at least one of them will go to their grave."

=== October 30 ===

Title: Murder by the Book

Author: Lauren Elliott

Series: #1 in the Beyond the Page Bookstore cozy series set in New England.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Addie left some painful memories behind in the big city, including the unsolved murder of her fiancé and her father’s fatal car accident. After an unexpected inheritance from a great aunt, she’s moved to a small New England town founded by her ancestors back in colonial times—and living in spacious Greyborne Manor, on a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Best of all, her aunt also left her countless first editions and other treasures—providing an inventory to start her own store.

But there’s trouble from day one, and not just from the grumpy woman who runs the bakery next door. A car nearly runs Addie down. Someone steals a copy of Alice in Wonderland. Then, Addie’s friend Serena, who owns a nearby tea shop, is arrested—for killing another local merchant. The police seem pretty sure they’ve got the story in hand, but Addie’s not going to let them close the book on this case without a fight . . ." 

Title: Thread Herrings

Author: Lea Wait

Series: #7 in the Mainely Needlepoint cozy series set in Maine.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Tagging along to an estate sale with her fellow Needlepointer, antiques shop owner Sarah Byrne, Angie Curtis impulsively bids on a tattered embroidery of a coat of arms. When she gets her prize back home to Haven Harbor, she discovers a document from 1757 behind the framed needlework—a claim for a child from a foundling hospital. Intrigued, Angie is determined to find the common thread between the child and the coat of arms.

Accepting her reporter friend Clem Walker's invitation to talk about her find on the local TV news, Angie makes an appeal to anyone who might have information. Instead, both women receive death threats. When Clem is found shot to death in a parking lot, Angie fears her own life may be in jeopardy. She has to unravel this historical mystery—or she may be the next one going, going . . . gone . . ."

Title: Dark Sacred Night

Author: Michael Connelly

Series: #2 in the Renée Ballard police procedural series set in Los Angeles.

448 pages

Synopsis: "Detective Renée Ballard is working the night beat--known in LAPD slang as "the late show"--and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin.

Ballard can't let him go through department records, but when he leaves, she looks into the case herself and feels a deep tug of empathy and anger. She has never been the kind of cop who leaves the job behind at the end of her shift--and she wants in.

The murder, unsolved, was of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally killed, her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy and to finally bring her killer to justice. Along the way, the two detectives forge a fragile trust, but this new partnership is put to the test when the case takes an unexpected and dangerous turn."

October is another of those "abundance of riches" months, isn't it? There are so many books I'm looking forward to reading that it's impossible for me to choose one clear-cut winner. Let's just say... outside the U.S., I'll pick Ragnar Jónasson's The Darkness. Inside the U.S., it's got to be Michael Connelly's Dark Sacred Night, and as for an author I've never read before, my choice is Laurie Loewenstein's Death of a Rainmaker. I would've chosen this book anyway, but when Lesa Holstine sits down next to you at a conference and gives a glowing recommendation of it, I tend to sit up and take notice!

What about you? Did I manage to choose any titles that made you sit up and take notice? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!

Thread the Halls by Lea Wait

First Line: After ten years of not celebrating December 25 other than by listening to carols on my car radio during surveillance gigs, I was determined this Christmas would be perfect.

Movie star Skye West is bringing her costars, screenwriters, and director to her home in Maine for The Perfect Christmas, which means her son Patrick and Patrick's girlfriend, Angie Curtis, have to shuffle all their own priorities to make it so. If not for Angie and her group of Mainely Needlepointers, Patrick would find himself buckling under the weight of his mother's to do list, and for a while, things are running smoothly. But once the celebrity guests arrive, strange things begin to happen. Christmas cookies make Patrick ill, and an unscripted tragedy occurs. It's imperative that Angie and her group of friends catch a killer before Santa appears at the town pier on his lobster boat.

Lea Wait brings readers a wonderful Maine Christmas in this sixth book in her Mainely Needlepoint series, which has been one of my favorites from the very first book. Since Angie worked for a private investigator for ten years while living in Phoenix, she has the background to make her one of the strongest amateur sleuths you'll find. She shares all her findings with the local police, and she doesn't do anything stupid-- both things that I really appreciate.

There hasn't been much needlepoint being done in the last few books, but that's not really a problem. Wait begins each chapter with a quote from an historic sampler, and those quotes can tell readers quite a bit about the embroiderers and the times they lived in. (People really can live on through their stitching.)

The mystery is a good one with a large suspect pool, and the motive for the crimes isn't easily deduced. I had my eye on one suspect in particular, and I enjoyed watching the mystery unfold. What I didn't enjoy were Skye West and her son.

A week before Christmas, and this woman decides that she wants her large Victorian mansion lavishly decorated, a never-ending gourmet food supply on hand, and needlepoint gifts stitched for each of her guests. Everyone in town is supposed to drop what they're doing and dance to her tune because-- after all-- she does pay well for what she wants. (Her son behaves the same way.) I won't tell you what my response would have been, but you can tell that I felt like a put-upon member of the Mainely Needlepoint family.

Chances are excellent that you will, too. A wonderful Maine setting, strong mysteries, and an excellent cast of characters. Come join the family. I promise I won't make you learn needlepoint!
 

Thread the Halls by Lea Wait

eISBN: 9781496706317

Kensington Books © 2017

eBook, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #6 Mainely Needlepoint mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

October 2017 New Mystery Releases!

For the month of October, my eyes were almost bigger than my stomach, at least when it comes to reading. So many good new books. So many available advance reading copies. Yikes! But I remember the year in which I burned out on those advance reading copies. I promise publishers and authors to have my reviews of their particular books up either on the day of their release or within the following two days.  If I accept too many of these, it's like having a tall pile of assigned reading, and that can make me grumpy. Reading isn't nearly as much fun when you have to do it in a certain order and with deadlines.

No grumps are allowed here, so I'm going to get right down to it. The following books are my picks of the new crime fiction being released throughout the month of October. They are grouped according to their release dates, and I hope that you'll be able to find a title or two (or three) that tickle your fancy. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Now-- let's get this show on the road!

=== October 3 ===

Title: Old Scores

Author: Will Thomas

Series: #9 in the Barker& Llewelyn historical series set in 1890 London.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "In 1890, the first Japanese diplomatic delegation arrives in London to open an embassy. Cyrus Barker, private enquiry agent and occasional agent for the Foreign Service Office, is enlisted to display his personal Japanese garden to the visiting dignitaries.

Later that night, Ambassador Toda is shot and killed in his office and Cyrus Barker is discovered across the street, watching the very same office, in possession of a revolver with one spent cartridge.

Arrested by the Special Branch for the crime, Barker is vigorously interrogated and finally released due to the intervention of his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, and his solicitor. With the London constabulary still convinced of his guilt, Barker is hired by the new Japanese ambassador to find the real murderer.

In a case that takes leads Barker and Llewelyn deep into parts of London's underworld, on paths that lead deep into Barker's own mysterious personal history, Old Scores is the finest yet in Will Thomas's critically acclaimed series."

Title: The Deep Dark Descending

Author: Allen Eskens

Series: #4 in the Max Rupert police procedural series set in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

285 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife’s death, even when he believed that a reckless hit-and-run driver was to blame. Haunted by memories both beautiful and painful, he is plagued by feelings of unfinished business. When Max learns that, in fact, Jenni was murdered, he must come to terms with this new information—and determine what to do with it.

Struggling to balance his impulses as a vengeful husband with his obligations as a law enforcement officer, Max devotes himself to relentlessly hunting down those responsible. For most of his life, he has thought of himself as a decent man. But now he’s so consumed with anguish and thoughts of retribution that he finds himself on the edge, questioning who he is and what he stands for.

On a frozen lake at the US–Canadian border, he wrestles with decisions that could change his life forever, as his rage threatens to turn him into the kind of person he has spent his entire career bringing to justice." 

Title: Hidden Scars

Author: Mark de Castrique

Series: #6 in the Sam Blackman private investigator series set in Asheville, North Carolina.

256 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "When Asheville, NC, private eyes Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson are asked by an eighty-year-old client to investigate the suspicious death of her brother, they warn her there is little chance of success. Paul Weaver died nearly seventy years earlier. The only documentation she has is the sole surviving copy of a coroner's report stating his death was caused by an accidental fall while hiking.

There's a red flag: local son Weaver knew every inch of the mountain trails. The returning World War II veteran had enrolled at Black Mountain College, a liberal local school with an international reputation for innovation, thanks to its stellar faculty and advisers like Buckminster Fuller and Albert Einstein. The college of the 1940s is currently being portrayed in a film being shot on the site of its former location. The plot is based on a book by a local author. The research behind both may provide a lead in the Weaver case.

One is drawn from movie crew member Harlan Beale, an octogenarian mountaineer who knew Weaver. In a late-night voice message, Beale tells Sam he's found something to show him. Then Beale is discovered dead in the Black Mountain College Museum. His murder turns the cold case white hot. When a second killing follows, the question becomes how to separate dark doings in the present from dark days and hidden scars of the post-war past. In typical de Castrique fashion, the answers aren't what you expect.

No-nonsense Nakayla and veteran Sam with his prosthetic leg love their investigations which always carry a thread from the past, and love each other. An interracial couple in the South, even the new South around Asheville, they've surrounded themselves with a terrific support team including an unorthodox lawyer and a veteran cop, and use humor both to bind them all together and to deflect insults. Plus, it helps deal with the tragedies their work uncovers."

=== October 8 ===

Title: Weycombe

Author: G.M. Malliet

Literary Mystery, Standalone, set in the county of Surrey, England in the present day.

360 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Living in the gated, wealthy village of Weycombe with her titled English husband is a fantasy come true for American Jillian White. But the murder of a local estate agent mars the so-pretty surface of her life and home. Worried about a killer on the loose, Jill tries to piece together clues hidden in the many versions of truth she hears from her suspicious neighbors. As Jill plunges deep into the investigation, her own suspicions grow into a warped web of lies and treachery.

From award-winning author G.M. Malliet comes a gripping psychological tale of murder and deception in which few can be trusted and nothing is as perfect as it seems."

Title: The Question of the Absentee Father

Author: Jeff Cohen AKA E.J. Copperman

Series: #4 in the Asperger's Mystery cozy series set in New Jersey and California.

288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Samuel Hoenig, proprietor of a business called Questions Answered, doesn't have strong feelings about his estranged father. After all, you can't miss what you never had. But when Samuel's mother receives an enigmatic letter and asks him where his father lives, Samuel is duty bound to provide an answer.

Unfortunately, answering this question means taking a trip to Los Angeles with his associate, Ms. Washburn. The personality traits of Asperger's Syndrome make flying across the country a major challenge for Samuel. Little does he know that as troubling as flying is, it's nothing compared to the danger they'll face when they land."

Title: Hunting the Five Point Killer

Author: C.M. Wendelboe

Series: #1 in the Bitter Wind mysteries featuring former Denver homicide detective Arn Anderson and set in Wyoming in the present day.

432 pages

Synopsis: "Retired detective Arn Anderson never thought he’d be broke enough to take on a cold murder case. Or desperate enough to team up with a TV reporter. Or pathetic enough to go back to his rundown childhood home after he swore he’d left Cheyenne for good. But here he is, hunting a serial killer who also appears to have come out of retirement. On the anniversary of the Five Point Killer’s crimes, Arn’s only option is to survive the carnage of a murderer who may be too twisted―and too brilliant―to catch."

=== October 10 ===

Title: Nail's Crossing

Author: Kris Lackey

Series: #1 in the Maytubby/Bond police procedural series set in Oklahoma.

185 pages

Synopsis: "This debut mystery from a fresh voice in Southwestern fiction stakes out the common ground between Tony Hillerman, Elmore Leonard, and Cormac McCarthy.

In a remote corner of the Chickasaw Nation, tribal Lighthorse policeman Bill Maytubby and county deputy Hannah Bond discover the buzzard-ravaged body of Majesty Tate, a young drifter with a blank past. They comb Oklahoma's rock prairie, river bottoms, and hard-bitten small towns for traces of her last days.

Tate was seen dancing with Austin Love, a violent local meth dealer fresh out of prison. An Oklahoma City motel clerk connects her with an aspiring politician. An oil-patch roustabout and a shady itinerant preacher provide dubious leads. Ne'er-do-wells start dying off.

A fluke lead propels Maytubby deep into Louisiana's bayou country, where a Cajun shrimper puts him on the scent of a bizarre conspiracy. He and Bond reunite in the Chickasaw Nation for the eventual face-off at Nail's Crossing."

=== October 17 ===

Title: Righteous

Author: Joe Ide

Series: #2 in the Isaiah Quintabe private investigator series set in Los Angeles.

336 pages

Synopsis: "For ten years, something has gnawed at Isaiah Quintabe's gut and kept him up nights, boiling with anger and thoughts of revenge. Ten years ago, when Isaiah was just a boy, his brother was killed by an unknown assailant. The search for the killer sent Isaiah plunging into despair and nearly destroyed his life. Even with a flourishing career, a new dog, and near-iconic status as a PI in his hometown, East Long Beach, he has to begin the hunt again-or lose his mind.

A case takes him and his volatile, dubious sidekick, Dodson, to Vegas, where Chinese gangsters and a terrifying seven-foot loan shark are stalking a DJ and her screwball boyfriend. If Isaiah doesn't find the two first, they'll be murdered. Awaiting the outcome is the love of IQ's life: fail, and he'll lose her. Isaiah's quest is fraught with treachery, menace, and startling twists, and it will lead him to the mastermind behind his brother's death, Isaiah's own sinister Moriarty."

=== October 24 ===

Title: Dying to Live

Author: Michael Stanley

Series: #6 in the Detective Kubu police procedural series set in Botswana.

336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Michael Stanley's Dying to Live is the sixth crime novel to feature the humble and endearing Detective Kubu, set against the richly beautiful backdrop of Botswana.

"A fantastic read. Brilliant!" -Louise Penny, New York Times bestselling author of The Long Way Home

A Bushman is discovered dead near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Africa. Although the man looks old enough to have died of natural causes, the police suspect foul play, and the body is sent to Gaborone for an autopsy. Pathologist Ian MacGregor confirms the cause of death as a broken neck, but is greatly puzzled by the man’s physiology. Although he’s obviously very old, his internal organs look remarkably young. He calls in Assistant Superintendent David “Kubu” Bengu. When the Bushman’s corpse is stolen from the morgue, suddenly the case takes on a new dimension."

Title: The Usual Santas

Authors: A wonderful group of writers published by Soho Press

Short Story Collection

416 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Finally: the perfect stocking stuffer for the crime fiction lover in your life! With a foreword by CWA Diamond Award-winner Peter Lovesey, these eighteen delightful holiday stories by your favorite Soho Crime authors contain laughs, murders, and plenty more.

This captivating collection, which features bestselling and award-winning authors, contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season.

Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes’s one-time nemesis Irene Adler finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough’s stolen diamonds. These and other adventures in this delectable volume will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe, from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana.

Includes Stories By (In Order of Appearance):
Helene Tursten, Mick Herron, Martin Limón, Timothy Hallinan, Teresa Dovalpage, Mette Ivie Harrison, Colin Cotterill, Ed Lin, Stuart Neville, Tod Goldberg, Henry Chang, James R. Benn, Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis, Sujata Massey, Gary Corby, Cara Black, Stephanie Barron and a Foreword and story by Peter Lovesey."

=== October 31 ===

Title: The Secret, Book & Scone Society

Author: Ellery Adams

Series: #1 in the Nora Pennington cozy series set in North Carolina.

304 pages

Synopsis: "Miracle Springs, North Carolina, is a place of healing. Strangers flock here hoping the natural hot springs, five-star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills. If none of that works, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked “comfort” scone from the Gingerbread House bakery, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book. That’s Nora’s special talent—prescribing the perfect novel to ease a person’s deepest pain and lighten their heaviest burden.

When a visiting businessman reaches out to Nora for guidance, she knows exactly which novels will help. But before he can keep their appointment at Miracle Books, he’s found dead on the train tracks.

Stunned, Nora forms the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, a group of damaged souls yearning to gain trust and earn redemption by helping others. To join the society, members must divulge their darkest secret—the terrible truth that brought each of them to Miracle Springs in the first place.

Determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman’s demise, the women meet in Nora’s cramped and cozy bookstore to share stories and trade support. And as they untangle a web of corruption, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge—proving it’s never too late to turn the page and start over . . ."

Title: Thread the Halls

Author: Lea Wait

Series: #6 in the Mainely Needlepoint cozy series set in Maine.

320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "This Yuletide season, there's no time for Angie Curtis and Patrick West to linger under the mistletoe. Patrick's being needled by his mother—movie star Skye West—to set the stage for a perfect white Christmas as she brings her costar, screenwriters, and director home for the holidays. With his mother's long list of wishes, Patrick's becoming unraveled. To help, the Mainely Needlepointers offer to decorate Skye's Victorian mansion and create needlepoint pillows as gifts for the guests.

But not long after the celebrity celebrants invade Haven Harbor, an unscripted tragedy occurs. Then some questionable Christmas cookies make Patrick sick. Before Santa arrives at the town pier on a lobster boat, Angie and the Needlepointers need to trim down the naughty list, catch a cold-hearted killer, and wrap up the case . . ."

A strong batch of new books for the month of October, isn't it? There's even a couple of titles to get us ready for Christmas. Which books did you add to your own wish lists? Inquiring minds would love to know!